Whales stranded on Senegalese beach

Rescue efforts Wednesday could not save at least 30 long-finned pilot whales that became stranded overnight on a beach in the north of the Senegalese capital Dakar.Environmental expert Haidar el Ali said the 81 whales that became lodged on Yoff-Thongor beach represented the biggest mass stranding of whales for 30 years in the west African nation.Thirty-three whales did not survive and lay dead on the beach, but rescuers aided by local fishermen managed to dislodge 48 others and send them back to the ocean. Many of the stranded whales were thought to have been pregnant.Experts were at a loss to explain the stranding and some of the whale carcasses were taken to a local veterinary school to try and find answers, a marine official said.Pilot whales are members of the dolphin family but are considered by experts to behave more like whales.